If Newton is interested in self-preservation, he also found time to devise a strategy to steer clear of San Francisco's other linebackers, Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks, in Sunday's NFC divisional playoff game.

Smith and Brooks rush the passer with similar ferocity from their symmetrical spots on the outside. They shared the team lead with 8 1/2 sacks in the regular season, and then Brooks picked up two more and Smith added 1 1/2 in the wild-card win over Green Bay.

The analogy qualifies as a stretch - neither Brooks nor Smith is bound for the Hall of Fame quite yet - but they're having a profound impact as the 49ers chase another Super Bowl berth. For all the tackles Willis and Bowman make, an elite defense must include players who routinely reach the quarterback.

Smith ascended to that level last season, when he earned first-team All-Pro honors and landed in the Pro Bowl. Brooks was snubbed on both counts, driving him to raise his game in 2013 - and this time he made the Pro Bowl and repeated as a second-team All-Pro selection.

"They take pride in meeting each other at the quarterback," safety Donte Whitner said.

They're all smiles here in January, but Smith and Brooks both hit serious off-the-field speed bumps in 2013. Smith was arrested on suspicion of DUI on Sept. 20 and missed five games while in rehabilitation for substance abuse. He also faces three felony weapons charges stemming from a party at his house in June 2012.

Teammates say Smith has been more serious since his return, less prone to goofiness and more appreciative of his job.

"I'm in a good spot," Smith said Friday. "I took some time to get away, and now I'm in a better place. ... You take a break from the game and you miss it, you cherish it. Then you make a decision about how you want to come back. Do you want to change or continue doing what you were doing?"

Smith, 24, insisted he hopes to "change his legacy," which was headed in a dangerous direction after his second DUI arrest in two years. The stint in rehab made an impact, in Brooks' view.

"I think it humbled him as a person," Brooks said. "When you have so much success at a young age, you kind of get big-headed a little bit, a little arrogant."

Brooks, 29, had his own issues in the past year. He allegedly hit then-teammate Lamar Divens in the head with a beer bottle, three times, during an argument outside Brooks' house on June 8. Santa Clara County prosecutors ultimately decided not to file assault charges.

The incident revived Brooks' reputation for off-the-field turmoil; in college, at Virginia, he was dismissed from the team after a charge of marijuana possession. Brooks acknowledged he still fights "demons and temptations," but he insisted he's matured.

As both players cope with these personal issues, their professional lives follow an upward trajectory. They hurried and harassed Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers throughout last Sunday's game at Lambeau Field, frozen tundra and all.

Smith seemed to be in Rodgers' face on nearly every pass play. Brooks noticed.

"Aldon was just dominating the whole game, man," he said. "He embarrassed that left tackle (David Bakhtiari). ... It's a combination of speed, strength and his long-ass arms. A lot of times, he's hitting somebody and they can't get their hands on him."

Smith does have extraordinarily long arms, a handy tool in trying to get past offensive linemen. Brooks told of how teammate Justin Smith used to wonder why team officials measured players' arms at the NFL combine. Then he saw Aldon Smith and figured it out.

Brooks, for his part, now realizes the need to use several tools to reach the quarterback. He leaned on speed and quickness in his younger days - much like Smith - but he's since learned the value of mixing in an occasional power/bull rush to keep opponents off balance.

"We try to teach each other new things," Smith said. "It's truly a friendly competition."

However it happens, the 49ers need their dynamic duo to put pressure on Newton in Sunday's game.